Walhalla — The Walhalla City Council met Tuesday, January 16, 2024 for its first regular Council meeting of the year.
At this meeting, City Council approved the City Administrator to continue negotiations with Oconee County to provide fire services to residents and property owners, in the unincorporated Walhalla area.
Also at the meeting, several changes were made to Council’s standing committees. Council voted to combine the Fire and Police committees into a new Public Safety Committee; to rename the Recreation Committee to Parks, Recreation and Tourism Committee; rename the Community Development Committee to Planning & Community Development Committee; and create a separate General Government Committee to oversee city administrative and council operational issues. Committees will meet on the first Tuesday of each month with regular meetings to continue to meet the third Tuesday of each month. Councilman Keith Pace was elected to serve as Mayor Pro Tem.
Mayor Tim Hall announced the following committee chairmanships and appointments:
Josh Holiday will serve as Chair to the Public Works Committee and a member on the Finance and Parks, Recreation & Tourism Committees.
Kenny Johns will serve as Chair to the Public Safety Committee and a member on the Finance and Planning & Community Development Committees.
Grant Keehn will serve as Chair to the Utilities Committee and a member on the Public Works and Public Safety Committees.
Sarai Melendez will serve as Chair to the Planning & Community Development and a member on the Public Safety and Parks, Recreation & Tourism Committees.
Keith Pace will serve as Chair to the Finance Committee and a member on the Utilities and Public Works Committees.
Josh Thomas will serve as Chair to the Parks, Recreation & Tourism and a member on the Planning & Community Development and Utilities Committees.
“Council members bring a great variety of perspectives and experiences to these committees to the benefit the citizens of Walhalla,” Hall noted.
In other actions, the council recognized February as Black History Month in the City of Walhalla and agreed to hold a February 1st retreat to discuss plans and goals for the upcoming year, in advance of the City’s budget cycle.
